This scarf made and worn to reflect on those people in our lives who embody the long-term perspective. For me, someone I call Linet. 

I knew Linet at a time when I was all too concerned with status, which might explain why I most remember a phrase she once used enthusiastically, "PV2 Pride." Accruing the status of PV2 might best be thought of as becoming the middle child of the young enlisted soldier hierarchy; not yet high enough to be respected as an actual adult, but also you're no longer cute either. In spite of all this, Linet was all about PV2 pride. PV2 Pride. PV2 Pride! P....V....2....PRIDE! I'm pretty sure there was a chant. 

There's not really any reason for this to stick with me, but it did, because it was through Linet that I was introduced to the simple power of repositioning otherwise unfavorable positions. At the time I was a bit too obsessed with having favorable status bestowed upon me, and military rank offered an obvious outlet. I was known for being insanely, unreasonably motivated, but in retrospect, I was driven in many ways by a desire for recognition. I needed it handed to me, from outside. So with it being far beyond me how anyone could ever be proud of an awkward position like PV2, it took me a long time to fully realize that the locus of Linet's pride wasn't her rank, it was herself. Linet instinctively understood that if you're proud of yourself, you can be proud of whatever you're doing, whatever your circumstance. 

Linet enjoyed her (short) time as a PV2, knowing that she'd be on her way to big things soon enough, that it was a necessary step. This turns out to be a powerful kind of perspective. Perhaps you too will find that with a strong sense of direction towards a deeply personal north star, the status you accrue from others along the way matters much less than the pride you generate in yourself.